A Frisco man was sentenced Thursday to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of murdering his ex-wife nearly two years ago.

Anna Moses

The Collin County jury reached its guilty verdict against Robert Moses shortly after arriving to court Thursday morning. Jurors had spent more than eight hours deliberating on Wednesday before recessing for the night.

Their deliberations Thursday on punishment took about 30 minutes.

Moses, 64, was convicted of killing Anna Moses on Jan. 13, 2015, as she returned home from work. Her body was in her garage. An autopsy showed she was shot six times. A seventh bullet recovered from her clothes had grazed her.

"Anna was targeted. She was ambushed. She was shot in the prime of her life," prosecutor Cynthia Walker said, calling the defendant a cold and calculating killer. "No one should ever fear him again."

Moses, who had been out on bond during the trial and was living in his ex-wife's home in Frisco's Plantation Resort, was taken into custody after the trial.

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"He's very upset," defense attorney Toby Shook said of his client. "He's proclaimed his innocence from the very beginning. ... The fight will continue through the appellate process."

After the sentence was announced, the court took a brief break. Moses sat alone at the defense table holding his face in his hands.

Defendant Robert Moses of Frisco reacts to the guilty verdict handed to him by a jury Thursday. Moses was found guilty in killing his ex-wife Anna Moses. (Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

A few of Anna Moses' friends in the courtroom hugged investigators and each other after the proceedings.

"Justice is served," said Olga Mead, one of Anna Moses' friends. "We wish her son will have a good life without this evil man."

Mead and Anna Moses both grew up in Russia and shared a bond over that culture when they became friends here in Texas. "She was an angel," Mead said.

Feeling a loss

Friends described Anna Moses as kind, inspiring, elegant, smart and sophisticated. She worked as the assistant director in the office of strategic planning and analysis at the University of Texas at Dallas. She was also working on her second master's degree at the time of her death.

Prosecutor Cynthia Walker asks the jury for a life sentence for Anna Moses' ex-husband Robert Moses.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

Friend Donna Ross said she believed the murder was based on Robert Moses' jealousy over his ex-wife's successes after their 2013 divorce.

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"Bob's life was in a downward spiral in every way, and Anna's was on an upward spiral," she said.

Prosecutors say Robert Moses had opportunity and motive, expecting to benefit financially from his ex-wife's death. DNA from three spots of blood found in her car after the killing were linked to him.

Defense attorneys argued during the trial that the evidence was largely circumstantial and too many questions were left unanswered.

Defense attorney Toby Shook thanked the jury for their hard work and told them he respected their guilty verdict.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

The defense called no witnesses during the punishment phase. Shook asked jurors to consider the good qualities Robert Moses showed in adopting his son, raising him and helping Igor Moses, now 22, when he had a type of bone cancer when he was young.

Igor Moses testified during the trial that he did not believe his father killed his mother.

"I'd ask you to contemplate the lower end of this range [of punishment] based on all you know about the case," Shook said.

Anna Moses' boyfriend Michael Stodnick testified during the punishment phase, saying he was devastated by the murder.

"There's a hole in my heart and a hole in the world," he told the jury. "She inspired everyone to be a better person."